Gov. Chris Christie won't say if he'll veto $30.6B budget

Tony Kurdzuk/The Star-LedgerGov. Chris Christie during a June town hall meeting at the Toms River National Guard Armory.

N.J. Assembly debates for hours, approves Democrats' $30.6 billion budgetFollowing a swift approval in the state Senate, a $30.6 billion Democratic budget was approved in the state Assembly. A partisan debate over the constitutionality and fiscal responsibility of the bill stretched for several hours before the 46-32 vote was taken along party lines. The proposed budget would restore money for education, boost tax relief to seniors and the working poor and prevent steep cuts to Medicaid. (Video by Nyier Abdou/The Star-Ledger)

TRENTON — After calling it "unconstitutional," Gov. Chris Christie won't say what he'll do about the $30.6 billion budget the state Legislature sent him today.

"At this time, the governor can’t be certain if the remedy is the line item veto or whether he needs to consider sending it back to the Legislature," Christie's press secretary Michael Drewniak said in a statement.

Christie could use the line item veto, which would allow him to delete portions of the budget or make reductions, but would not give him the power to add additional passages into the budget. If he uses the line-item veto, the budget would become law immediately but the Legislature could return later to try to override him.

He could also use a conditional veto, which would allow him to make changes to the bill and insert new sections. If he uses the conditional veto, the Legislature must come back and vote to approve it or override the conditional veto.

A conditional veto would leave the state without a budget and possibly lead to a shutdown going into the July 4 holiday weekend.

“The Democratic budget passed today by the Senate and the Assembly is unconstitutional in its present form based on hundreds of millions of dollars in spending that is unsupported by constitutionally certified revenue," Drewniak said in the statement. "There is a lot for the governor to study and review in order to make a determination as to whether the budget can be fixed and brought into balance to fulfill the state’s constitutional obligation."

His third option, an out-right veto that kills the bill entirely, is rarely used by governors and would leave the state with no budget and lawmakers forced to start at the beginning of the process. Christie has given no indication that a total veto is an option.

N.J. Senate approves Democrat-sponsored state budgetThe state Senate today approved a Democrat-sponsored, $30.6 billion state budget proposal by a vote of 23-15. The proposal, which is also being considered by the state Assembly this evening, would restore money for education, boost tax relief to seniors and the working poor, and prevent steep cuts to Medicaid. (Video by Nyier Abdou/The Star-Ledger)